The Love Triangle
by xxhave.you.evaxx
Summary: Troyella, was originally called Traffic. So Gabriella talked to some random in traffic and now he goes to school with her. Now she's confused about who to like...drama? OH YEAH! Some Ryella, Zekepay and Chaylor:D
1. Traffic

'It's the middle of summer…and I'm sitting in a car…stuck in stationary traffic…the air conditioning is broken and it's the ho

**Well here's another Troyella Story. It's a bit different to my other stories but we all need changes once in a while:D I've had this idea in my head for a while now and I've been sick since Friday so I thought, why not write it and get the idea out of my head while I'm blowing my nose and putting infectious disease ridden tissues into my infectious disease ridden plastic bag….yeah.**

**Disclaimer: You guys are mean for making me say this but…I don't own anything but the idea of this story…I'm gonna cry now…thanks a lot! :(**

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'It's the middle of summer…and I'm sitting in a car…stuck in stationary traffic…the air conditioning is broken and it's the hottest it's ever been! Can this day get any worse?' A brunette thought to herself frustrated. She put her window down in a feeble attempt for a cool breeze to come in through her car and cool her down but it never came.

'Maybe the radio knows something' She started to channel surf when she stopped on a station that was reading out traffic reports. "The North Eastern and the Western motorway flowing smoothly both ways, but the Southern motorway has stationary traffic heading out of the city banking right back to the Station St over bridge. Reports say it's because of a sudden break down in the middle of the motorway which caused a series of nose to tails, creating a road block of totaled cars. More on that in the next half hour." The young girl threw her head back against the head rest of her car chair and groaned. 'I'm gonna be late…I better call Shar to let her know.' She thought as she reaches into her bag on the passenger seat next to her and pulls out her cell phone. She punches in a series of digits and holds the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" A girl on the other end asked

"Hey Sharpay"

"Hey what's up? Where are you? We're all waiting for you!" she said and as if on cue, an eruption of shouting blaringly came through Sharpay's side of the line.

The brunette giggled a little but groaned as the car behind her honked. "Sorry Shar, but I'm gonna be a bit late. I'm stuck in stupid, typical city traffic!" She exclaimed exasperated.

"What are you doing coming from the city?" Sharpay asked confused

"My parents wanted me to pick up a few things"

"Your parents made you run an errand over in the city?"

"Yup…That's one consequence for having my restricted license is that I have to drive around, not only after my parents but also my brothers."

"…You didn't have to did you?" Sharpay asked knowingly

"Not at all" The young brunette confirmed.

"Gabby, how many times do I have to say it!?"

"You've told me a thousand times Shar. I don't need another lecture" Gabby replied sighing frustrated

"Obviously you do because it's not getting through that thick head of yours!" Sharpay exclaimed. "Gabs, you have to say no! For your own good. You're like the smartest person in the school but you can't manage to say a two letter word?" She said concerned.

"Shar you know me…I may be a bright kid but that word is just not in my vocabulary."

"Well then program your brain to say **NO **and understand the word **NO** and when to use the word **NO**, so that you don't get stuck in stupid traffic and have all your friends, and my brother I might add, all waiting for you at the beach on the nicest day ever just because you couldn't say **NO** to your parents!" Sharpay exclaimed emphasizing her point when saying no.

"Ryan's there?" Gabby asked getting excited

"Gabs I know you have a short attention span and all but can you please refrain from thinking of my brother like that!?"

"Now you're just being rude." Gabby said joking.

"No…rude is when you do something for your parents when you know that you're going to hang out with us"

"Ok, ok. I get it. I'll be there as soon as this traffic clears ok? Just make sure your brother doesn't check out any other girls."

"Ugh…I still don't know what you see in him"

"Shar…" Gabby said in a warning sort of voice.

"Alright alright." Sharpay said reluctantly obliging to her best friends wishes.

"Thanks Shar, see ya soon. Love ya!"

"Yeah yeah." She replied in a tone that sounds like she's smiling

Gabby giggles to herself as she put her phone back in her bag 'same old Shar, you gotta love her'

15 minutes crawled by and Gabby had already turned off her engine and put the handbrake on. She is starting to get impatient though, with the unnecessary honking from other cars. 'What the heck is the point of honking at the car in front of you when you know they can't go any where?' she asked herself like it was a stupid question.

She tried to preoccupy herself with fiddling with her air conditioning. She started to turn a couple of knobs in hope that it might just turn on. "Come on please work" She muttered to herself. She turned a knob again but nothing came out "Please, please, please work!" She asked desperately. She's starting to get really frustrated and starts to hit the air conditioning until it finally starts to work. The cool air flows through the car letting her relax a little as she starts to cool down. "Huh…I would've thought I'd have broken it" She said to herself amused. As if on cue it started to make weird sounds and it broke down again which sent the car in to furnace temperatures again. "Ugh stupid hunk of metal!" Gabby said angrily as she hit it again. "Good for nothing piece of- -"

"You know violence doesn't solve things" A voice said interrupting her beating of the air conditioning. She looked out her window and saw a random guy, around her age smiling at her amused from the car next to her.

She forgot that she left her window open and she felt embarrassed that some random guy saw what she just did. "Oh…sorry. I kind of forgot that I had my window open" She replied smiling sheepishly.

He just shrugged and kept smiling at Gabby. "I should be thanking you"

Gabby raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"You've kept me entertained for the past half hour" Gabby lowered her head a little and smiled sheepishly as her cheeks started to colour out of embarrassment thinking of what she has done in the past half hour. The guy chuckled slightly at her reaction and decided not to leave her hanging like that. "My name's Troy" He said smiling genuinely.

Gabby looked up into his startling blue eyes and found herself smiling back. "Gabriella"

"So I take it you're having trouble with your air conditioning?" Troy asked knowingly.

"How could you tell? I mean it's not like I was beating it or anything" She asked sarcastically

The blue eyed boy chuckled a little at her sarcasm. "I was going to help but if you're just going to be sarcastic then I guess- -"

"Please help!" Gabriella asked desperately interrupting him. "I'm dieing of heat over here.

Troy places his arm on top of his door where his window is open and pretends to be considering her plead. "I don't know…but I guess since it's a life or death situation…"

"Thank you!" Gabriella said gratefully

"Ok now you're gonna have to get under the dash board, so I suggest taking off your seatbelt and getting right under there"

Gabriella nodded and did as she was told and managed to get her legs and upper body to switch places. Once she was in as comfortable position as she could get, she yelled out to him. "What now?"

Troy was finding it hard not to crack up as he took a picture of her on his phone.

"Troy?" Gabriella yelled. Totally oblivious to the picture that was taken of her legs dangling in the air. "What do I do now?"

Troy couldn't hold in his laughter anymore and he started to laugh…loudly. He made sure she heard him.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked while struggling to sit properly on her drivers' seat. She finally managed to sit down in her seat and looked at Troy.

"Do you do everything a stranger tells you?" He asked smiling cheekily at her.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion at him until she realized how ridiculous she must've looked. "Ok, ok, you've had your fun. Now can you tell me how to really get this stupid thing to go?"

"Ok, it's just basic mechanics really." He said shrugging. He looked straight ahead with his arm still hanging out the window. "For one reason it could be that there's no more refrigerant coming through the condenser or there's not enough refrigerant in the compressor. The other reason could be that you actuated the clutch mechanisms to turn the compressor on, or it could be a mechanical issue where the compressors actually broken." Troy said having it roll off the tongue. He looked back at Gabriella who was totally blank. "…you didn't understand a single word I said, did you?"

"Nope."

Troy sighed but couldn't help but smile. "Pop the hood" He said as he undid his seat belt.

"What're you doing?" She asked as she watched him get out of his car and walk over to hers. "You can't get out of your car on the motorway."

Troy went around to her window and bent down; resting his arms on her car door and places his chin on top of his arms so they were at eye level. "Look around Gabriella." She looked around and saw some people sitting on different parts of their cars. Some girls were even in their bikinis getting a tan. She never actually realized that all the honking had ceased. "So do you want your air con fixed or what?"

Gabriella turned back to Troy and looked into his eyes. She merely nodded her head. "Alright then, I'm gonna need you to pop the hood." He said again. This time Gabriella obliged and popped the hood. He walked over to her hood and looked at a few things while whispering incoherent words to himself.

"You know, for a 'bright kid'…" he popped is head out so she could see the smug look on his face. "You really know how to toast an engine" He said as he went back to looking at her car.

Gabriella smirked to herself and honked the horn. "OW!!" Troy got a huge fright and hit his head hard on the bonnet. He came out from behind the hood rubbing his head and looked at Gabriella. "What was that for?!"

Gabriella looked innocent at him and shrugged. "My hand slipped." She said as she got out of her car and stood next to him.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he went back to work. "Now you see that?" He asked as she nodded. "That's the compressor and by the look of it, it seems to be working alright so I'll just…" He reached in and tugged at a couple of things. He pulled back and smiled at her. "That should do it, go try it"

Gabriella went back to her car and turned the keys so that the air con is on but the engine isn't. Troy closed the hood and walked over to his car and leaned on the passenger side door with his hands jammed in his pockets. He watched her smile and her shoulders relax as she felt the cool air of her new and improved air conditioner working. She looked up at him and smiled in appreciation. "Thank you"

He casually shrugged back "Don't mention it." They locked gazes and held it for a while. Troy cleared his throat and broke the gaze. "So…umm, it looks like we've still got time to kill so…what school do you go to?"

"East High, you?"

"Well I was at West High but I'm transferring for my junior year at East High…so I'll probably see you there next term"

"Cool, I'm a junior next year too so I can show you around and I can show you to all my friends." She said smiling. "Although I won't mention the West High thing to the basketball team."

Troy cringed and made it sound like he's struggling to talk. "Yeah I don't think the basketball team will have a problem recognizing me"

"Why?" She asked confused.

"I take it you don't watch the basketball games?"

"Nope not really…just friends with most of them"

"Well that's good to know…" He said sarcastically. Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed "…I'm the captain of the West High knights."

"Oh" Was all she could say as she got out of her car and leaned against her door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah" He agreed

"Meh… They won't care" She said shrugging. Troy looked at her like she's crazy. "Maybe on the court when you're playing for different schools but not through the school."

"I hope you're right."

"What made you change schools?" She asked curiously

"Heard of a new PE teacher coming to East High?"

"Yeah, I have. What was his name? Mr. Balloon? No…Mr. Bulsar?…No…" Gabriella asked herself. She shook her head at the wrong names.

"Bolton" Troy helped out

"Yeah that's it Bolton…How'd you…" She trailed off after he gave her a sheepish smile.

"He's my dad. He's gonna be the new head coach for the East High Wildcats…and I'll be on that team" He said matter of factly.

"So your Troy Bolton…Yup I have heard of you through the basketball team."

"Really? What did they say?" Toy asked taking sudden interest

"That they hate you…" She looked up at him as his face fell. She giggled and carried on "…but only because you're playing for a different team. They said that if you were on their team that they'd actually win the Championships next term." Troy smiled a little at the warm welcome he might get for joining the Wildcats.

"What are they like?"

"They're really great, fun, caring, sweet, selfless- -"

"You're not talking about the team…you're talking about someone on the team" Troy said accusingly.

Gabriella blushed a little "No I'm not"

"Is his name Ryan by any chance?" Troy asked knowingly

"How did you…You listened to my phone conversation didn't you!?"

"How could I not, it's kind of hard not to hear when I don't have the radio on and someone is talking very loudly on her phone."

Gabriella sighed "I guess, I don't know why I like him though. It's one of those non reciprocal feelings."

"He thinks of you as nothing more than a friend" Troy nodded knowingly.

"Exactly and it just bugs me." She said with her head down.

"Well he's not the guy for you."

Gabriella snapped her head up to look at him "Yeah he is! I mean he's sweet, cute, funny even sensitive and- -"

"And he has an IQ of a pre schooler if he doesn't try and take a chance on you" Troy finished her sentence.

She looked up at him curiously. "What's that suppose to mean?"

He looked at her and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well…I mean just…I-I just think that you're…well, you're really quite pretty and funny and nice…I-I mean he's got to be stupid to not know what's in front of him." Troy said nervously as he smiled sheepishly at her.

Gabriella gave him a reassuring smile as she started to blush. Troy feeling a bit awkward decided to break it. "So which one is Ryan? Is he the captain of the Wildcats?"

"Umm…yeah. I thought all players know each other" She said looking up at him.

"I only know my team because that's the only people I need to worry about when I'm on the court."

"I think you'll make a great addition to the team" She said smiling warmly at him. He nodded and looked ahead at all the cars checking to make sure that they don't start moving when they're still talking outside their cars, but everyone was still stationary.

"Can I see your phone quickly?" Gabriella asked him. He was puzzled but handed it over all the same. She grabbed it and flicked through to his files. "So this is what you were laughing about" She said smiling and showing him the picture he recently took of her upside down in her car seat. He chuckled and nodded at her. She looked at the photo again and exited out of it.

Troy saw her using the keypad and was curious as to what she was doing. But before he could ask she closed the phone and gave it back to him. He took it and checked the photo but the photo was still there, he checked his messages but nothing was sent that he didn't know about. He looked up at her confused "What did you do?"

She smiled slyly. "Wouldn't you like to know"

"Actually I would" He said looking through his phone again but to no avail. He looked up at her again but found her grinning smugly at him.

"Smile"

"Huh?" With a click sound a photo was taken from Gabriella's phone of Troy. "Hey! I wasn't ready"

"And you think I was?"

"Well…no, but you would've said no" He said defensively

"Can you blame me? At least I didn't delete it" She pointed out.

"True" He smiled and put his phone back into his pocket. He looked up through his shaggy brown hair and saw that everyone had gotten into their cars and saw faint movement of cars moving a little ways up. "I think that's our cue to go" He said still looking at the traffic.

Gabriella looked up at the cars and her face fell. "Looks like it" She turned back to look at him. "Thanks so much for fixing my air conditioning"

"Hey I said don't mention it. Bye Brie" He said smiling.

She was confused at the random name Brie so she questioned him. "Brie?"

"Well yeah, I mean Ga**brie**lla is a bit long and I'm sure most of your friends call you Gabs or Gabby so, Brie kind of fitted." He said shrugging. Gabby on the other hand was blushing madly at her new nickname.

They got back into their own cars and turned on their engines. Troy looked over to Gabriella with their windows still down. "And hey, at least I know that this isn't a goodbye, it's more of a see you later" He said smiling.

She smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, you can even call me sometime" She replied as she went with the traffic and out of sight.

Troy's lane was moving slowly but moving all the same. 'I can't call her if I don't have…' Something clicked in Troy's mind as he checked the contacts in his phone. He smiled a little as he saw her ID photo as her legs sticking up in the air. '…her number'

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Gabriella finally arrived at the beach and was encased in a hug by none other than Sharpay.

"Finally! I was about to send a search party to go out and look for you!"

"Why I was only half an hour late"

"Gabs, try two hours late" Sharpay said looking over at her friend concerned.

"No way!" Gabriella said and instantly grabbed out her phone to look at the time. "I can't have talked to him for that long" She muttered to herself but, unfortunately, Sharpay heard her.

"Who's him aye?" She asked giving Gabby a suggestive nudge with her elbow.

"I'll tell you later, but right now let's go hit the water with the others" She said smiling. She put her stuff down with everyone else's and took off her shorts, t-shirt and jandels and ran down to the water in her bikini with Sharpay hot on her heels.

"Look…" Sharpay said as they had settled in the water. She nodded in the direction of her brother. "There's Ryan"

Gabriella on the other hand paid no attention to Sharpay and continued to float on her back on the water with a dreamy smile plastered to her face. "Gabs" Sharpay said clicking in front of Gabby's face.

"Huh? What?" Gabriella asked distracted, standing up in the water.

"I was just saying that Ryan's over there and that you should go and talk to him"

"Why?" Gabriella asked obviously not getting the point of talking to someone for no apparent reason.

"Because you have a crush on him." Sharpay said in a duh tone.

"Not anymore I don't" Gabriella replied shrugging.

"What? And when did this happen?" Sharpay asked shocked

"When I was stuck in traffic" Gabriella said like it was nothing.

"But I talked to you when you were in the traffic and you still liked him…what changed?"

"I talked to someone who opened up my eyes to reality" Gabriella said lying back down on the water.

"First you tell me you like him then you come here two hours late and start denying the time because you were talking to some guy and now you're telling me that…wait…" Sharpay stopped herself and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at Gabby suspiciously as the jigsaw pieces in her mind started to connect together. "Ok later is now so tell me who that guy was" She demanded as Gabriella blushed and smiled at the thought of him.

**Well there it is…I don't know about this one but oh well that's what reviews are for (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) lol. So please review, I accept all kinds so lay it on me!!**


	2. AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE READ!

Well because of popular demand that I do a sequel or make this into a story I have decided I will

Well because of popular demand that I do a sequel or make this into a story I have decided I will do a story. WOO PARTY!! Haha!!

But at the moment I'm in the middle of exams so the story is going to have to wait. Even though, I swear I've stuffed up my first exam today!!:( …Anyways, I want to, well maybe not **want** to, but I **should** finish my other story off first before I start another one.

So yeah, if you still want a story then tell me but just know that it will take until maybe the middle of next month to get the next few chapters up

Again thank you so much for the support and the reviews…the most reviews on one chapter for me WOOO!! That is soooooo exciting haha:D


	3. An Overprotective Family

Ok so I deleted my other story because I hated it

**Ok so I deleted my other story because I hated it!! But it's good news for this story because I can concentrate on this one instead of any others. :D**

**I thought that I have left it long enough for an update so here is the next chapter but since I am in the preparation stage for my exams the next update may be a little while. I'm still thinking through everything that's going to happen!**

**Well here it is and because I already did a disclaimer on the first chapter I really don't think I should have to do one on every page I mean come on!!**

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"Wait; let me get this straight…" Sharpay said sitting up and looking at Gabriella in disbelief. They had enough of swimming and decided to catch the last rays of sun for the day with Taylor joining them. "You expect me to believe that you bashed your air conditioning while…name?"

"Troy" Gabriella replied exasperatedly feeling like a broken record for repeating his name over and over again.

"Right, Troy…while Troy interrupted you and told you that you kept him entertained for the past half hour, which may I add sounds stalkerish!" Sharpay said defiantly

Gabriella just inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to listen to her best friend's rambling while attempting to relax.

"And then he takes a photo of you? But no not your whole body just your legs in the air?!" Sharpay said at length. "Then fixes your air con, you go all mushy mushy, I like Ryan crap on him even when you just met him and I had to annoy the crap out of you just to find out you liked him! He says your pretty, which pretty much every guy tells you anyway AND after all that…" She inhaled deeply having said that in one breath. "You give him your number?" She finished looking at Gabriella incredulously.

"For the thousandth time: Yes!" Gabriella answered her.

Sharpay sat and stared at the sand that lay between her and Gabby in silence, until she looked back at Gabriella and spoke up. "I still don't get it"

Gabriella was finding her extremely annoying at the moment so she propped herself up on her elbows and laughed incredulously at her. "What's to get?! Yes, he took a photo of only my legs in the air, yes he fixed my air con, yes I told him I liked Ryan, but it was not intentional, and yes I gave him my number! What else is there to understand?" Gabriella asked exasperated.

"Hmm, oh I don't know…" Sharpay said sarcastically "What about, what the hell was going through your head?!"

Gabriella groaned and fell back onto her back. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as if to squeeze her frustration out of her ears.

"Sharpay's got a point Gabs" Taylor spoke up.

Gabriella removed her hands from her eyes and turned her head to face Taylor. "Aww!" She moaned "Not you too!"

"I'm just saying that I haven't heard the full story and what I have heard, well he does sound a little…stalkerish" Taylor said unsure.

Gabby groaned for the millionth time that day and referred to both girls. "Look, just wait until you meet him okay?" She reasoned "Then you'll know why I did what I did"

Taylor shrugged "I guess I can wait."

"But you- -" Sharpay started but was interrupted.

"Just drop it Shar" Gabby told her firmly.

"But- -"

"Come on, Shar you know what went on and, like I said, you're just gonna have to wait."

Sharpay frowned but lay back down in defeat. "Fine, but just remember this has only been dropped not buried!"

"Finally some peace" Gabby said sighing contently. A second later Sharpay's high pitched screams filled the unexpected ears of the poor people occupying the beach.

"Ugh I'm gonna kill you Zeke!!" She screamed. She picked up the seaweed that was thrown on her by the very tips of her fingers and ran down to the water to chase her boyfriend.

"…or not" Taylor confirmed, as Chad, Taylor's boyfriend, came in from the water.

"Hey Babe" Chad said smiling mischievously at her.

Taylor raised her eyebrow at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Chad shrugged and smiled innocently "Like what?" He said standing over her dripping wet.

"Like that" She confirmed

"Oh no reason…" He said shrugging and looking away. She accepted it and lay back down, he saw her do that and the smile returned. "…But I was going to do this" He said as he bent down and picked her up against his wet body and started walking towards the water.

"Put me down Chad!!" Taylor screamed

"But then you might get hurt and then I would've broken my promise to you when I first asked you out!" He said innocently while still walking towards the water.

Taylor stopped screaming and looked at Chad "Aww, you're- -" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as he dropped her in the water. She stood up slowly and gave him a death glare.

"What were you saying babe?"

Taylor faked a sweet smile and put on a nice voice. "I was saying babe, that you are so DEAD!!" She yelled as she started to chase him around in the water.

Gabriella watched her friends from afar smiling softly to herself. She jumped though as her phone rang in her bag next to her. She pulled it out and saw it was an unregistered number; she frowned but answered it all the same.

"Hello?"

"Hey Brie" a deep voice replied

Gabriella smiled and knew who it was straight away. "Hey Troy"

"You knew it was me?"

"You are the only one who calls me Brie" She pointed out.

"Oh yeah"

She giggled a little and asked: "So why'd you call?"

"Well I was kinda wondering, because my dad is going to be a teacher at East High and I'm gonna be the new kid, can I take you up on that offer for you to give me a tour around the school tomorrow?" He asked a little bit too nervously.

"Umm sure Troy I can give you the tour but, it'll have to be when school starts back next week" She replied confused.

"But my dad is going in tomorrow so I was gonna go with him to have a look around but I thought I might get lost"

"Ohh, and that's where I come in"

"Yeah" Troy said relieved

Gabriella shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not. What time are you going tomorrow?"

"Umm, I think at 11 in the morning"

"Okay I'll see you outside the school at 11 tomorrow" She said smiling.

"Okay cool, thank you!" Troy replied appreciatively.

She giggled a little at his thanks "It's ok. I'm sure being the new kid will be hard."

"Well let's hope not. Anyways thanks again and I'll see you tomorrow at 11"

"At 11" She confirmed. "Bye Troy"

"Cya Brie"

Gabriella hung up and looked at her phone as if that didn't just happen. He actually called her! It took a little while but it sunk in and when it did Gabriella's face lit up and she smiled at her phone.

"I know girls love their phones, but to smile at it and hold it so close to them is a little over the top." A person stated and gave Gabriella a charming smile. "Don't you think?"

Gabriella looked up at the owner of the voice and smiled at him. "Coming from the guy with a fetish for hats?" She asked him playing along.

He winced and grabbed at his chest in fake pain "That cut me deep Gabs"

"Aww, does wittle wyan have baby skin" She mocked him in a baby voice.

"No, but wittle wyan has a question"

Gabriella giggled a little and spoke normally. "Okay, shoot"

"What are you up to tomorrow?" He asked her, giving her his million dollar smile.

Gabriella reflexively placed her hand on her stomach as she felt butterflies float around.

"Gabby?" Ryan asked concerned "You okay?"

Gabriella stared at the sand as she answered him. "Yeah, but I'm busy tomorrow sorry" She replied slowly and hesitantly. She cautiously lifted her gaze to meet his and swore she saw his face fall.

"That's okay, maybe another time" He replied shaking it off as he stood up and ran back down to the water.

Gabriella looked down at her stomach and back at Ryan's retreating form with her mouth open. She quickly reached back into her bag and pulled out her diary. She took it everywhere; it was the only way she knew it would be safe from her brothers.

She opened to a free page and clicked her pen on:

_Dear Diary,_

_So I met a guy named Troy Bolton today and he's a really great guy who made me forget about my crush on Ryan and I think I have a small crush on him, so I gave him my number. But Ryan just came along and he gave me that smile and my stomach did its usual thing and flopped around like a fish out of the water!_

_Maybe the Troy crush is just a phase? Maybe it's a way for a higher power to test my relationship with Ryan?...Oh who am I kidding?! The only relationship we have is hi and bye! _

_Oh well…whatever it is, I'll find out tomorrow when I meet Troy to show him around the school. By the way, I can't believe he called me…Aww man!! This doesn't look good!!_

_Signed_

_Confused_

Another thing that she likes to do is sign off every day with her main emotion at the time.

It started to get cold out as the sun started to fall in the sky. She put her diary back in her bag and grabbed her clothes and put them back on. With the gang in the water she waited for them to finally come out. When they did they dried off and gave Gabby a goodbye hug. She even hugged Ryan, although it was a very awkward and her stomach did another giant, uncomfortable flop.

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Gabriella arrived home and was about to go upstairs for a shower when her mum came out of no where and engulfed her in a bear hug.

"I was so worried about you! Where were you?" She asked concerned

"Mum! Do we have to do this every time I come home?" Gabriella asked exasperatedly

"I'm your mother I have a right to be worried!"

"Yes but you take it too far sometimes!" She pointed out "I told you I was going to the beach with my friends"

"Well we didn't buy you that phone for nothing Gabby! You need to call us" Her mum said firmly before finally letting her go.

"I know mum" Gabby sighed "Sorry"

"It's okay, now go wash up, dinner is nearly ready" She said as she turned and walked away.

Gabby shrugged and made her way up the stairs to her room. She passed her older brothers room and greeted him.

"Hey Red!" she said calling him by his nickname she gave him because him and his fetish with tomato sauce is really…weird. So she called him Red because that's the colour of tomato sauce, but his real name is Bren.

He looked up at her with his hazel eyes and smiled "Hey Spanky!" he replied with her nickname. She has no clue why he calls her that and whenever she asks he just says because she's spanky…which she doesn't get. "At the beach again?"

"Yup!" She replied leaning on his doorframe.

"Mum had a fit at me asking if I knew where you were"

Gabriella rolled her eyes "Well, she needs to stop worrying about me."

"Yeah but what can you do" He stated. "Now to a more serious matter?" He started as his eyebrow went up and he tried to suppress a smile that was tugging at the corners of his lips.

Gabriella sighed; she knew where he was heading with this. "Yes Red?"

"Any guys down at the beach?"

"Red, it's a beach of course there were guys"

"But was there any that talked to you?"

"Apart from Chad, Zeke and Ryan…nope"

"Ryan! You still like that boy?"

Gabriella looked up at him stunned. "How did you know?"

He smiled a little. "I didn't, you just told me" Gabriella gave him a sheepish look and played with a bit of her hair. "You know, if any guy **ever **hurts you…" He said cracking his knuckles to emphasize his point.

"Don't worry Red, I won't let anyone get that close" she replied laughing at her brothers over protective nature.

"Mkay, if you say so" He replied a little unsure.

"You don't need to worry yourself Red, I'm too cautious when it comes to guys anyway" She said reassuringly.

"Whatever you say sis." Gabriella was about to leave when he started to speak again. "Oh and by the way"

"Yeah?"

"Jared's coming over tonight" Jared is Gabriella's eldest brother. He's the oldest out of the kids but Bren isn't too far behind. Jared just turned 21 and has moved out and living quite a ways from her house. She calls him curly because, for some reason he has really tight ringlets for hair when her parents don't have curly hair, her mums' hair is wavy but her dads' hair is straight.

"Oh great more boyfriend questions" She said jokingly.

Bren chuckled and said "You know you'll get it from dad once you get down stairs again."

"I know" She said as she left and grabbed her track pants and a t-shirt out of her draws to put on after her shower.

000000000000000

"Hey Gabby" Jared said giving her a big hug.

"Hey curly" she replied muffled in his shirt.

He pushed her back at arms length and looked at her the same way Bren did. "Now Gabby do you- -"

"No I don't have any boyfriends, yes I like someone and no you can't meet him." She said anticipating the questions. "Anything else curly?" she asked smiling at him

"…Nope that's pretty much it but we're gonna have to talk about meeting this guy you like" He said putting his arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the kitchen.

"Good timing guys, dinner is ready" Gabriella's dad announced.

"Oh and Gabby - -"

"I have no love interest dad" she said also anticipating his question

"Good enough for me, let's sit down for dinner" He announced as Gabriella rolled her eyes and grabbed her plate.

000000000000000

"So Spanky?" Bren asked standing at Gabriella's doorway halfway through his apple.

Gabriella was lying on her stomach on her bed reading her book. She finished the sentence and looked up "Yeah?"

"What're you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm showing a new person around school tomorrow"

"I thought you were still on school holidays" He queried

"I am but his dad is going to be- -"

"Did you say his?" Bren asked mid chew

Gabriella sighed "Yes Red, his dad is a new teacher and he's going in tomorrow so he called me to ask- -"

"Wait he called you!? You gave him your number!?" Bren asked incredulously

"Yes!" Gabby replied exasperatedly "He called me to ask if I can show him around school tomorrow"

"…What's his name?"

"Troy"

"Do you have his number?" He asked curiously

"He called me so; yeah I'll have it somewhere, why?"

"…Can I have it?"

Gabriella grabbed her pillow from her bed and threw it at him "No! Now get out!"

Bren dodged the pillow and closed the door to her room. Gabriella put her book down and rolled onto her back with her palms pressed against her eyes. She groaned and flung her arms straight out at her sides. She closed her eyes and hummed a song she'd been working on in her head. Thinking of a new line she got up and grabbed her guitar and began strumming until her tiredness creped in and she called it quits to get ready for bed.

000000000000000

**Well here is the second chapter. Sorry about the wait and about the uninteresting part of it but I promise the next chapter will be more exciting, this chapter is just to show you how protective Gabriella's family is…hence the title. Anyways R&R please and thank you!! :)**


	4. The Tour

**Here is chapter 3 YAY!!!! And I think another YAY!!!! Is in order because I have finished my exams…okay I've got one more to go but it's more of a general knowledge one so no studying and no school for 10-11 weeks!!!!!**

**Now I did promise that I make this chapter more exciting and well I have tried and hope I have but you just have to tell me so R&R!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…except polar bear bag:P**

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Gabriella awoke with the sunlight shining on her face. She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach with her eyes closed thinking. _'Okay so I'm gonna meet Troy and his dad today at school to give him a tour at 11, and the time now is…' _Gabriella opened her eyes slowly and blinked a couple of times to get use to the light. _'10:15…' _She bolted up and looked at the clock again to make sure she wasn't mistaken "crap!"

She got out of bed and had a look through some draws and her wardrobe and decided on jean shorts that came half -way up her thigh, a multi coloured belt, a plain white shirt that hugged her curves and white jandels. She had her hair down and had simple jewelry on.

After having a shower she brushed her teeth and saw that she only had 20 minutes to get to school when it's usually a 30 minute walk. "Crap!" she muttered as she ran downstairs, past Bren and out the door.

"Gone to meet your boyfriend Spanky?!" He yelled after her.

"Not my boyfriend Red!" She yelled back.

Bren laughed and shook his head as he closed the front door.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

"So Troy?" A man driving a car asked his son in the passenger seat.

"Yeah dad?"

"Are you looking forward to starting a new school?"

"Yeah I guess" Troy answered unsure.

"What do you mean you guess?" Mr. Bolton asked with a quick glance.

"Well I did leave my friends behind at West High"

"They're not far away Troy and besides I bet you'll make friends here."

"Yeah I know dad." He replied "I've already made one" He said to himself smiling.

A few more minutes went by and they arrived outside East High.

"Well son, here it is"

Troy looked up at the huge structure and sighed but as they were passing the front entrance he didn't see Gabriella out the front and wondered if she forgot.

Mr. Bolton parked up at the teachers' parking lot and they walked to the front entrance. As they made it to the front Troy still couldn't see Gabriella anywhere. His dad unlocked the front doors and opened them for Troy to go in first, but when he looked back at his son he noticed that he seemed a little distracted.

"Are you ok son?"

Troy turned his head and looked at his dad. "Yeah. I think I'll just stand out here for a while."

"Oh, okay then. Well if you need me just try and find me or text me." He said shrugging and leaving him alone.

Troy nodded and turned back around to face the street. He sat on the steps with his back against the wall as he leaned his head against the cold concrete and closed his eyes. _'I hope she hasn't forgotten.' _He thought to himself.

"Hey bum"

Troy snapped his eyes open and looked up at the owner of the voice. He smiled as he saw who it was. "I'm the bum? I'm not the one who slept in." He said standing up and looking down at her.

"And I'm not the one with the shaggy hair that makes you look like a bum." She said cheekily.

Troy grabbed at his chest in fake pain. "Ouch Brie, that hurt" He replied smiling.

Gabriella stared at him as her eyes grew a little bigger and her mouth parted a little.

His cheeky smile was replaced by a curious smile "What?"

Gabriella realized she was staring at him snapped out of it and looked away from him. "Oh, nothing. Sorry"

"It didn't look like nothing; I mean you were staring at me like I had just grown an extra head." He pointed out.

She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry it's just…déjà vu"

"Of what?"

"When you did that fake pain and grabbed at your chest thing." She started as he nodded "Well, Ryan did the same thing"

Troy felt like he just got punched in the stomach but he didn't look phased at all. "You still like that guy? Even after our little talk about him"

"I can't just brush a huge crush like that off! It's not that easy!" Gabby sighed.

Troy put on the warmest smile he could muster and tried to help her out. "Just give it time, you'll come around."

Gabriella looked up into his piercing blue eyes and found herself smiling back.

"And besides, I'm sure you have guys lining up for you" Gabriella blushed and giggled at his compliment and after realizing what he said to her he rubbed the back of his neck nervously and decided to laugh awkwardly with her.

"Well I didn't run here for nothing" Gabriella started as she grabbed the door handle. "I came here to give you a V.I.P tour and that's what you're gonna get!" She said defiantly as she pulled the door back and let him go in first.

"Wow." Troy commented as he took a step inside and looked around "It's so…"

"Big?" Gabriella helped out standing next to him.

"I was gonna say clean but big works too" He said smiling down at her as she smiled back. "So where to first?"

"Well, do you know what subjects you took for this year?"

Troy started to count on his fingers as he listed his subjects aloud. "English, Math, PE, Mechanic and Robotics, Physics and Biology"

"Wow, that's nearly all my subjects."

"So we could be in the same class?" He asked

"If we get put in the same option class then yeah"

"Oh yeah I forgot about that, well at least I have a chance that I'll know someone"

"Come on" Gabriella said with a nod of her head in the direction they're going. "I'll show you where the main area for your classes will be."

Troy and Gabriella walked around the school while she explained things about the school and showed him different and important areas, like the lunch room and the bathrooms to where the best car park is for students. They were walking towards Troy's last subject area: PE.

"Hey, I thought you said your dad was coming." Gabriella said curiously.

"Oh he's here. He went in before you got here."

"Oh, that could explain the unlocked doors"

"Yeah maybe" He said sarcastically.

She nudged him with her shoulder playfully. "Shut up"

Troy laughed slightly as they came to a stop outside the gym. Gabriella grabbed the handle and pulled it open to reveal a basketball court with bleaches on either sides of the court and a big Wildcat picture in the middle of the court. "And this, is your real stage"

Troy looked around and smiled. "I think I might like it here." He looked on the court and saw a huge rack of basketballs to the side of the court. He started to walk towards them and commented. "Convenient."

He grabbed a basketball and spun it in his hands. He bounced it a couple of times and started to bounce it through his legs from his right hand to his left then bounced around his back from his left to his right. He looked up and saw the hoop was out so he dribbled it up to the 3 point line and with a flick of his fingers it went in with nothing but net.

"I see why my friends want you on their team." Gabriella stated.

Troy jumped forgetting she was there as he was getting caught up in what he was doing. "Umm, I guess" He replied embarrassed as he jogged to pick the ball up.

"Aww and a modest one too" Gabriella said half joking as she walked next to him and put her hand out for the ball.

He handed it over and she took a shot in the same style that Troy did. It also went straight through the net.

Troy looked at her in awe. "I thought you said you're not the basketball type?"

"I'm not." Gabriella replied smirking. "I just play it for fun but I don't watch it."

Troy smiled and walked over to the ball. He picked it up and passed her the ball back. "Bet you can't make that shot again"

"What do I get if I do?" She asked while spinning the ball in her hands

"You get a free lunch, courtesy of Master Troy Bolton" He replied in a posh accent while bowing to her.

She giggled as he looked up at her and smiled playfully.

"Okay, on one condition" She said smiling.

"What more can you want than a free meal with the one and only" He said joking.

"Can we make it a brunch? I skipped breakfast to be here and I'm starving!"

Troy chuckled at her. "Whatever suits"

"Thanks" she said smiling gratefully but it soon turned into a smirk. "I just hope you brought your wallet" She said as she shot and let the ball roll off her fingers. It hit the back of the rim and went through the hoop and landed straight back into the hands of Troy.

"I hope I did too" He replied looking at the ball.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

They played a few games of horse where Gabriella won the first one but lost the last three. They walked out of the gym and Troy checked his phone to see if his dad called him to say that's he's leaving but there was nothing.

"Have you still got time?" Gabriella asked him looking at the ground

"Yeah looks like it, why?"

"Because, I…I think I want to show you something" She said still looking at the ground, unsure if what she will show him is a good idea.

Troy looked at her carefully. "Umm okay. If you want to" He assured her.

Gabriella looked up at him and smiled "Yeah I do"

She walked down a few corridors and up some stairs then there was like a hidden door where it was actually hard to miss. She opened the door and let him go up first again. Once he reached the top of the stairs the smell of flowers had filled his nostrils and the breeze that came through ruffled his hair. He was standing on a rooftop garden with a lookout of the whole school.

"How'd you find this?"

Gabriella placed her hands on the rail and looked out at the view. "I was actually just wondering the corridors thinking and I guess I just stumbled across this place."

He stood at the opposite hand rail with his back to her looking down at front of the school. "How'd you find it again if you were walking around distracted?"

Gabriella thought about it and laughed a little "You know I have no idea. I guess it was a walk and hope thing."

"So I take it that you come up here to get away from everything?" He asked knowingly.

"Yeah" Gabriella replied barley audible. She pushed herself off of the hand rail and turned to lean against the railing so she could watch Troy. But found he had already done what she had. His hands were deep in his pockets as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"So what problems do you come up here to think about?" He asked curiously

"I don't have problems" She replied lying.

"Oh please" Troy said smiling. "All teenagers have problems"

Gabriella shrugged and looked away from him. "Or are you one of those rare teenagers where you don't have problems?" He asked sarcastically. The corners of her mouth slightly turned upwards at his sarcasm. "Come on Brie, I'm all ears" He said softly.

She looked into his eyes and found the sincerity that swam in his cerulean pools. She signed and turned away to look out at the view.

"I guess it's my family." Gabriella started softly. "My brothers and my dad are overly protective, my mum worries about me too much and she is trying to live her life through mine." She started to grip at the railing as Troy edged closer to her. "I just feel like a caged bird! They expect me to be perfect but how can I be if they don't let me out of my cage to make my own mistakes and learn from them!?"

Gabriella was fuming and gripping the railing so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "Oh and do you know what else I do that's just the cherry on the cake!?" She asked sarcastically. Not waiting for an answer she dove into more emotional expelling. "I just can't say no to them! I'm a pushover and people use it to their advantage and I'm sick of it! But I'm too nice to say anything!"

Her hands were gripping the railing so hard that it was actually starting to hurt. She felt so angry but relieved at the same time to finally let that out.

The anger though couldn't seem to subside as she stared out at the horizon. She was about to say something else when she felt a warm hand on hers. It was softly grazing her hand in hesitation of not knowing if it's a good thing to do that but the heat that was emitting from his hand was comforting. She looked down watched Troy's thumb massage her knuckles as if to get more blood circulation in her knuckles.

She looked up at him and he was grinning softly at her. She looked back down at his hand on her and she loosened her grip slowly while keeping her other hand relaxed on the railing to support her as she turned to face Troy.

He let his hand flop down to his side as Gabriella looked at the floor and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry" She said barley audible.

Troy shrugged, still grinning down at her. "I told you I was all ears"

Gabriella smiled softly and looked back out at the view. "I just don't know what to do Troy. I've had 16 years of this and I don't know how long I can last before I blow my top."

"I can't say I've experience this sort of thing before." Troy said standing next to her. "But I can give you some advice."

"What's that?" She asked and looked at him curiously.

He looked down at her and smirked. "Toughen up!"

She looked at him shocked. "What?"

"Don't be so rational and forgiving all the time!" Troy told her. "Stand up for yourself and what you want"

"Easier said than done!" Gabriella squeaked defensively.

"Have you tried saying no to someone?"

"Yes!" She shot back, turning to fully face him.

"Oh? And what happened?"

"I…" She sighed and mumbled sheepishly: "…felt guilty and did it anyway"

"My point exactly" Troy said triumphantly.

"Well what do you expect me to do?" She asked shrugging. "Say no to people who need my help?"

"No, look all I'm saying is that if you don't want to do something then just say no"

"But I…" Gabriella trailed off as she heard the 'Jaws' theme.

"Sorry" Troy said sheepishly as he dug into his pocket for his phone. Gabriella raised her eyebrow at him as he shrugged and answered it.

"Hey dad…Now?...Okay, I'll meet you out front…Don't worry I have a guide…You'll meet her on- -…yes I said her…" He smiled and shook his head at Gabriella as she smiled back. "…Look you'll meet her once we're out the front…see you" Troy hung up and put his phone away.

"I guess that's out cue to go" Troy said as he turned around to walk down the staircase.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

They walked to the front of the school and met a patient Mr. Bolton.

"Hey dad" Troy called out. He turned around and smiled at them as they stopped in front of him.

"So Troy is this your guide?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"Gabriella, dad. Dad, Gabriella"

"Nice to meet you sir" Gabriella greeted and stuck her hand out waiting expectantly for him to grab and shake.

He firmly gripped her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too Gabriella"

"So dad, I kind of lost a bet with Gabriella and I promised I'd buy her brunch, so I'll see you at home, 'kay?"

Mr. Bolton smiled fondly at his son and nodded. "Okay, you kids have fun now"

"I just need to grab my wallet out of the car" Troy informed him.

"Oh, right sure! You can walk me to my car" He said and turned to go to the car park.

"Your dad seems nice" Gabriella commented quietly to Troy.

Troy leaned down and whispered back. "That's because he is"

Gabriella smiled at him and playfully nudged him in the ribs.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

"So where are we going?" Troy asked as they started down the footpath.

"A place that I love"

"Aaaand that is…?" Troy pressed on.

"A surprise" Gabriella said with a sly look.

"How far away is it?"

"Not too far. Ten to twenty minute walk."

"You're joking right?"

"Aww can't the poor little ex Knight handle a twenty minute walk?" She mocked him in a baby voice.

"I can handle the walk…It's just the person I'm walking with is the problem."

"Hey!" Gabriella squeaked as she pushed him. She didn't really realize how hard she pushed him or that there was a grass hedge that he is now sitting in.

"Oh come on!" Troy said struggling to get up. Gabriella, on the other hand, quickly took out her phone and took a picture of him. The picture was a bit blurry but she tried to hold it as still as possible while laughing hysterically.

"No fair!" Troy strained to say.

"May I remind you about a certain boy that took a picture of a girls legs in the air yesterday?" Gabriella said crossing her arms.

"Okay Okay. Please just help me up"

Gabriella sighed dramatically and replied. "I suppose so" She reached down a hand and Troy grabbed it.

He was actually surprised at how deceiving she is. She's a lot stronger than she looks and in one powerful tug he was on his feet but, it was so strong that he stumbled onto her. He instinctively grabbed her waist to hold him and her up, as she sub consciously grabbed around his neck to keep her from falling. They both managed to stay off the ground as they locked gazes. The way they were standing looked like they had just finished dancing, the way Troy held her by her waist and dipping her and the way Gabriella's hands clutch to Troy's neck.

"Umm…th-thanks" Gabriella choked out, barely audible. Her attention was still on his eyes.

"Thanks yourself" Troy said also in a whisper and fixed on her eyes.

'_Is it just me or is the already little gap between us closing?' _She asked herself but before she could answer herself, someone spoke up.

"Gabriella?"

Troy and Gabriella got such a fright by the sudden voice that they let go of each other, in turn letting Gabby fall with an "oof!"

"Gabby!"

"Brie!"

They said simultaneously. Before Gabriella realized what was going on there were two strong hands around both her arms but she could tell they were different people because one felt warmer than the other but she couldn't tell which one was warmer.

She looked up and saw two pairs of eyes having a glaring contest.

"Back off Bolton!"

"No! You back off Evans!"

"Both of you both off!" A high pitch voice firmly said.

Gabriella was now starting to register what was going on and decided to stand between the two glaring boys.

"Gabby, did he hurt you?"

"No Ryan, I'm fine"

"Are you sure? Knights can be dangerous" Ryan said shooting Troy a glare.

"Wildcat Ryan"

"Huh?" Ryan asked confused

"Troy Bolton here is an ex Knight. He is now a Wildcat." Gabriella announced.

"So this is Troy Bolton?"

"Yes, this is Troy Bolton Shar" Sharpay nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, suggesting that she's judging him.

"Why is she looking at me like that?" Troy whispered to Gabriella

She looked at Sharpay and rolled her eyes. "Shar! Why are you looking at him like that?"

"Because you said that when I meet him I'll know why you did what you did yesterday" She said, eyes still focused on a nervous Troy.

"I did say- -"

"What did you do when you met him?" Ryan asked curiously.

"All I did was- -"

"You told them about me?" Troy asked

"Yes, but only- -"

"You met Bolton yesterday and you're going out with him already!?" Ryan asked incredulously.

"Technically yes but- -"

"You didn't tell me you're going out with someone!" Sharpay said surprised.

"Would everyone shut up and let me answer!" Gabriella said firmly frustrated.

Everyone stared at her and muttered quiet apologies.

Gabriella sighed and turned to Sharpay. "I did say that but try talking to him first before making any judgments." Sharpay's mouth formed an 'o' but stayed surprisingly silent.

Gabriella turned to face Ryan. "All we did was take a few pictures and he fixed my air conditioning." Ryan nodded satisfied.

"Troy…" She started as she turned to face him. "I'm a girl, I tell my girls anything and everything they want to know" She said smiling.

"That could explain it" He muttered.

"And to you two…"She said referring to Ryan and Sharpay. "Troy and I are just friends. I was just showing him around school and he lost a bet so he's buying me brunch" She explained.

"Then why did it look like you two were about to kiss?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella, Ryan and Troy all stiffened at the question, but for Gabby and Troy there were additional blushes grazing their cheeks.

"We did not!" Gabby squeaked defensively.

"Yeah it did, I mean you two looked pretty comfy in a rather awkward position to play tonsil hockey in the middle of a street"

Gabriella looked horrified but was offset by her blush, Troy was rubbing the back of his neck furiously with the same colour to his cheeks and Ryan looked like he was about to turn into the green eyed monster.

"Sharpay! You know me better than that!"

"You're right…" Sharpay said

"Thank you" Gabby sighed.

"…you'd rather be away from any public eye before playing tonsil hockey" She said smirking.

Gabriella shot her a death glare before lunging at her. Fortunately for Sharpay, both Ryan and Troy grabbed her arms to hold her back.

"Gabby, calm down!" Ryan said

"Yeah Brie! It was only a joke"

Ryan looked at Troy weirdly. "Why do you call her Brie?"

"That's my nickname for her" He explained looking at Ryan.

"Sure it is, or you could be confusing her with your current girlfriend!"

Troy let go of Gabriella's arm to fully face Ryan. "What are you talking about!?"

"You heard me!"

Troy and Ryan started fighting as a result they let Gabriella lose on Sharpay.

"Sharpay! Why would you say that in front of them…especially them!" Gabby said frustrated.

"Why is it especially them?" She asked smugly.

"You know what I mean! Stop confusing what you and Zeke do with what I do!"

"Hey! I don't do that!" Sharpay replied, feeling the heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Yeah, and I don't like two guys!" Gabby said sarcastically.

To on lookers the fight would look stupid and childish and completely immature…which it is. That is exactly what two people were thinking as they made their way onto the scene. They looked at each other and rolled their eyes at each other then turned their attention back on the others.

"Guys!" A girl said a little loud.

"Hey! Cut it out!" He said in the same volume.

When there was no response the girl drew in a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. "HEY! SHUT UP!!!!" They all stopped screaming at each other and looked at her. "Thank you"

"Taylor? Chad? What're you doing here?" Ryan asked.

"Better question, what's going on?" Taylor asked

"And why is Bolton here?" Chad said changing his posture in an attempt to intimidate Troy.

"I invited him" Gabby said.

Chad gave her a weird look. "Gabs, I know you don't watch the basketball games but surely you know that he's a Knight"

Gabriella sighed and blew a few strands of hair out of eyes. She did that whenever she was getting really annoyed or frustrated. "I met him yesterday and found out he's a Knight turned Wildcat so I gave him my number, he called while we were at the beach and said that his dad was going into the school and asked if he could take my offer of showing him around he school, I said yes, we made a bet I won so he's buying me brunch and that's when Ry and Shar showed up."

Everyone except Gabby and Troy was silent as they processed her information.

"You know…" Taylor started "Brunch is sounding good right now, can we come?" She asked as she grabbed Chad's arm.

Gabriella smiled at her friend and replied: "Everyone can come if they want" She said scanning her eyes over everyone.

There was a wave of shoulders moving up and down and a few bobble heads nodding.

"Alright then, it's settled."

"No it's not"

Gabriella rounded on Ryan and gave him a glare. "Why not?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Because…" He started as he faced Troy "…I'm not sitting with a Knight"

"You heard Brie! I'm not a Knight anymore, I'm a Wildcat!" Troy said defensively.

"Not yet you're not" Ryan said defiantly. "I'm the captain and I say if you're in or out!"

"Guys stop it!" Gabriella said standing beside them.

"Some captain you are!" Troy replied sarcastically.

"I'm a better captain them you'll ever be!" Ryan said as he shoved Troy backwards.

He stumbled but easily regained his balance as he used the momentum of closing the gap between them to push Ryan harder. "Is that why my team wins the Championship from you!?"

They were about to start throwing a few punches here and there when Gabriella stepped between them, extended her arms out and used all of her strength to keep the boys at bay. "I can't believe you two!" She said raising her voice in disbelief. "You're letting your stupid team pride get in the way of each other!?" She asked incredulously.

"And my stomach" Chad added in but with a swift jab to his ribs by Taylor he was silenced.

Troy sighed and straightened up. "Sorry Brie"

"Yeah, sorry" Ryan said straightening up. "I guess that if us being friends means so much to you then we can give it a try, right Bol- -I mean Troy "Ryan compromised holding out his hand.

Troy smiled and firmly gripped his hand. Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief and let her arms flop down by her sides. "Now was that so hard?" She asked smiling.

She walked over to where Sharpay was standing but did not stop by her side, instead she carried on and let Sharpay fall into step with her.

Everyone took the hint and followed the girls. Sharpay leaned into Gabby so that no one could hear her. "You know, they weren't fighting over a team"

"What?"

"Troy and Ryan, they weren't fighting over a team, they were fighting because of you."

"Shar, I don't know about you but I didn't hear my name in that fight at all." She replied quietly looking at the pavement.

"Gabby, Ryan likes you and by the way Troy was holding you a minute ago, I'd say he likes you too"

"Yeah maybe as friends." Gabriella said although her flushed cheeks weren't very convincing.

"Mhmm" Sharpay hummed unconvinced.

"I'm serious Shar! The way I feel is never reciprocated!" Gabby reasoned with her.

"You are so oblivious!" Sharpay whisper yelled.

Gabby rolled her eyes but couldn't help but blush and smile a little as she looked back at the two boys talking.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Gabriella got home afterwards and made a beeline to her room, ignoring the sly remarks from her brother. She grabbed her diary and jumped on her bed.

_Dear Diary_

_Today was great! Troy is such an amazing basketball player! But I thought that he was a good guy though…then again, I though Ryan was too. They started to push and yell at each other and if I didn't step in then we may have had lunch at the Hospital, and in Chad's words: his stomach was so empty that he could barely stand let alone hold back two guys!_

_But after that we went to the café and had a blast…! Did I just say blast…? Meh, Anyways, they liked Troy and I'm not just saying that! Chad pretty much announced it to the whole café! But they didn't have to tell him that initiation into the Wildcats was to pay for their meals too._

_Oh well, Sharpay invited us back in an hour for a sleepover and she invited Troy and because it's her house that means Ryan will be there! But I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing…Oh well…_

_Signed_

_Excited_

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**WOW!!! This is a very long chapter…but it's here and now that I read it, it's not really that exciting, in fact I don't really like this chapter…but my first ones are just building into my later chapters so Meh…I guess we're all going to have to wait.**

**R&R thanks for reading.**


	5. The Sleepover

**So it has definitely been a while since I last updated and I'm so sorry about that!! With Christmas then New Years then my Birthday and then school starting back up (Grr :( ) my sport and work not to mention homework....UGH!!! I'm getting tired just thinking about it but everything was just crazy!!!Lol ...But the main thing at the moment is that I'm updating.**

**So let's write...after the disclaimer of course=D**

**I own nothing, apart from the idea of the story...I don't feel creative at the moment so meh...**

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Gabriella grabbed her car keys and bag and was about to walk out the door when her cell phone rang. She smiled as she looked at the caller ID.

"Hey Troy"

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Caller ID" She replied like it was obvious.

"Oh yeah...anyways, any chance of a lift from you to Sharpays?"

"Sure. Hope you're ready though because I'm coming now."

"I'm not but I will be when you get here. Thanks Brie."

"Don't mention it, just text me your address, okay?"

"Okay. See you soon"

"'Kay, bye"

Troy hung up and ran upstairs to grab his stuff.

Gabriella was about to head out of the house when her mum and dad came up behind her. "Make sure you call us when you get the hun." Her mum said.

Gabriella inwardly sighed. "I will mum, don't worry"

"Are boys going to be there?" Her dad asked sternly.

"Yes dad, but we'll be sleeping in different rooms...Girls in Sharpay's, boys in Ryan's" She said feeling more frustrated by the usually routine.

"Okay, well have fun sweetie"

"I will, bye." She said quickly as she shut the door and got into her car

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10 minutes later Gabriella arrived at his house and Troy jumped straight in and they set off to Sharpays.

"So how's the air conditioning going for you?" He asked smiling cheekily at her.

She quickly side glanced at him and felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "Fine, thanks for asking"

Troy nodded "So how long have you known the Evans for?"

Gabriella frowned at the question. "Why?"

He shrugged and looked at her. "Just curious"

She gave him a quick confused glance but answered all the same. "Umm, we go back to our Kindergarten years." She let out a little laugh as she reminisced. "I gave Sharpay some...things, to eat"

Troy smiled at her and asked: "What sorts of things?"

"Oh you know, crayons, paper, glue, sand...the usual" She shrugged and kept on beaming.

"And did she?"

"She downed them like they were sweet treats." Both he and Gabriella erupted in laughter at her childhood days.

They calmed down as Gabriella felt Troy's eyes on her. She instinctively grabbed a piece of her hair and started to play with it. She tried to start a conversation with him to stop the heat rushing to her face. "So...how'd you like East High?"

Troy shook his head and returned his line of vision to straight ahead as he replied. Gabriella, felt the heat subside, stopped playing with her hair and replaced her hand on the wheel.

"Well it's definitely big..."

"Don't forget clean!" Gabby added in smiling.

"How could I!? The whiteness was pretty much blinding me" He smiled as Gabby laughed.

"But, yeah. I'm sure I'll get use to it" He said still smiling. "Just as long as you don't ditch me"

She smiled reassuringly at him and thought: 'don't worry, I won't'

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They arrived at Sharpay's house and had settled in and are just watching movies.

Gabriella was feeling rather awkward as everyone had coupled off leaving her sitting in between Ryan and Troy. They didn't seem to mind but Gabriella, on the other hand was inwardly stressing. She got up and decided to write in her diary.

"Where you going Gabs?" Taylor called out

"Just going to the bathroom" She said over her shoulder as she made her way up the stairs and out of sight.

"Wait, isn't there a closer bathroom downstairs in the hall?" Sharpay asked no in particular.

"Why are you asking us, it's your house" Chad said but received a punch in the shoulder from Taylor. "Hey!"

"Come on Shar" Taylor said as she got up and went upstairs with Sharpay hot on her heels.

Chad watched them go up the stairs while he rubbed his arm. He looked confused at his friends and asked: "What'd I do!?"

With the girls...

"Gabby, what's wrong?" Sharpay asked entering the room after Taylor. They found her with a book in her lap sitting on the edge of Sharpay's bed.

She looked up and quietly closed it. "What're you guys doing up here?"

"We could ask you the same thing" Taylor pointed out. She sat down beside her with Sharpay on the other side of Gabby.

"What's this?" She asked, attempting to grab the diary.

Gabriella was quick to react as she stood up and hugged her diary to her chest. "N-nothing!"

Sharpay smirked at her. "Well if it's nothing then I'm sure you can show us"

"Yeah, Gabs" Taylor chimed in.

"Fine! It's something I don't want you to read"

"Why not?"

"'Cos it's my diary! It's personal" She said as she hugged it tighter.

"Since when has anything been personal between us?" Sharpay asked with laughter in her voice.

"Come on Gabs, it can't be that bad" Taylor shrugged

Gabriella sighed in defeat. She can't say no. "Fine! Just don't laugh" She held the book out for them to take.

"No promises there!" Taylor said as she grabbed it and flipped to a random page.

"Dear diary..." Taylor started to read out a bit melodramatically."...I have the biggest crush on Ryan! He's great! Funny, smart, even sensitive...You don't find many of those around, they're a dying species. But I don't think Sharpay will approve...last time I said Zeke is cute she threatened to blind me with a pair of scissors so that I can't see how cute he is. Imagine what she would do if I said that about her twin brother. PHYSCO!"

Taylor looked up at Sharpay with a blank expression.

Sharpay just shrugged and defended herself. "That's only because I had a crush on him"

"But blinding her with a pair of scissors?" Taylor asked incredulously. "A little extreme, don't you think?"

"Not at the time it wasn't"

Taylor raised an eyebrow as Gabby shrugged in response. Taylor flicked in a few more pages.

"Dear diary, I am sick of my stupid personality! I am the biggest pushover in the world and what do I do about it? NOTHING!! That's what!

Gabriella can you do this?

Gabriella can you do that?

I want to say no so bad, but I can't because I know I'll just feel guilty about it straight away and say: "okay, I'll do it" with a stupid grin on my face..."

Taylor looked up at Gabs with sad eyes. Gabriella stood with her hands behind her back and her head lowered to watch her feet.

"Gabs, why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't think it's important for you guys to know."

"But Gabby...we're your best friends, everything is important to know." Taylor said softly.

"Yeah, I mean, I know you can't say no but, I didn't know it bugged you that much" Sharpay added in.

"Well..." gabby looked up at them and smiled sadly. "...now you do"

"Gabby we- -"

"I'm going back downstairs now...feel free to carry on reading my diary" Gabriella said trying to avoid the topic. She left and closed the door quietly behind her.

Sharpay and Taylor sat in silence, trying to think of a way to get Gabriella out of this habit of hers that's causing her so much pain.

"I have an idea!" Sharpay sad suddenly making Taylor jump. She stood up and looked at Taylor with excitement but worry.

"Something tells me that this plan of yours might not go well" Taylor said studying her eyes.

"Well..." Sharpay began and sighed "...there might be a few broken hearts."

"But will it help Gabby?"

"I'm pretty sure it will" Sharpay said slowly.

Taylor silently studied Sharpay and after a while she nodded her head cautiously. "If it will help her then...I'm in"

Sharpay smiled at Taylor and pointed to the diary. "Put it behind your back and keep swapping until I say stop. Left is Troy, right is Ryan. Okay?"

Taylor nodded and started swapping the diary from hand to hand behind her back as Sharpay turned her back to her. After about 10 seconds of the sound of Gabby's diary slapping Taylor's hands, Sharpay called stop and Taylor did. But the air that they're breathing suddenly became thick and the atmosphere tense.

Taylor brought the hand that the diary is in front of her as Sharpay refused to turn around. She took a deep breath and turned to see what fate's damage is.

Taylor looked up from the diary to meet Sharpay's eyes. She sighed and said barely audible: "looks like Troy is the winner"

With the guys and Gabby...

Gabriella sat back down between Troy and Ryan and stared at the TV without actually watching it. The boys noticed but carried on watching the movie.

After a little while Sharpay and Taylor came downstairs and took their original spots next to their boyfriends and waited until the end of the movie to tell the boys the plan.

Once the movie finished, Sharpay looked at Taylor and watched as she nodded her head ever so slightly. She got up and got the DVD out and put it back in its case, she turned around and looked at Ryan.

"Can we talk?"

"About?"

"About that thing"

Ryan frowned in confusion. "What thing?"

"You know that thing" She said through clenched teeth.

"I obviously don't know what this thing is Shar"

All eyes were on Sharpay, usually she wouldn't mind, that's why she loves the theatre so much. But all eyes in the room looked at her expectantly making her feel as though she had been stood up on stage during a big performance.

"Ryan just get into the hall!" She raised her voice defiantly.

"But w- -"

"NOW!!"

"Fine! Sheesh, no need to yell" He grumbled as he went into the hall.

They left the rest of the gang in the room as Taylor took that as her queue...

"Hey Troy? Can you help me with something?"

He shrugged and replied: "Sure"

They left the room too as Zeke, Chad and Gabriella sat where they were, not knowing what to do.

"Sooo...what should we do now?" Chad asked

"I don't know..." Zeke replied.

The silence that crept over them was somewhat awkward as Zeke looked around the room and Chad started to click his tongue.

Gabriella though, liked the silence as she was able to think through some things...though it was short lived.

"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT!?!?" Troy bellowed from the kitchen making the three in the living room jump.

They listened in to see if they can hear what is going on but they couldn't hear anything.

Soon Ryan and Sharpay came in and as Sharpay sat down next to Zeke, Ryan sat next to Gabby and put his arm around her.

Shocked, Gabriella looked at his hand slung over her shoulder and back at his charming smile. "W-what are you doing?" She stuttered quietly.

Ryan shrugged but kept on smiling. "Well, I was going to do it during the movie but you weren't here so...why not now?" He looked at the movie that was now starting on the TV.

Gabriella, still trying to get over the shock, looked at the TV and wondered how she didn't realise that someone put another movie on.

A few minutes passed when Taylor and Troy came back. She sat back down and melted into Chad's arms as Troy slumped onto the couch beside Gabriella. She looked at him and leant closer to talk to him when Ryan tightened his hold on her and pulled her closer to him, but she still managed to ask Troy what was wrong.

He smiled at her and asked why would she think anything was wrong? She had a feeling that the smile was fake and the reply was a little cynical.

'What happened when my crushes were in the hallway and the kitchen?'She thought to herself. She looked up at Ryan and thought: 'he's come back and suddenly he puts his arm around me.'She covertly looked at Troy with his chin resting on his hand frowning at the TV. 'He's come back like he just got some bad news.' She looked at the TV and shifted under Ryan's arm.

'What happened to my crushes? What did Sharpay and Taylor say to them?' She thought. She frowned at the TV confused. 'Wait...Ryan has just put his arm around me and said that he has wanted to throughout the other movie! I should be so happy and excited, so...' She secretly looked over at Troy again. 'Why do I feel so confused and torn? At least one of my crushes likes me...' Gabriella quietly sighed to herself as she fell limp against Ryan. 'What have you done to me Troy?'

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**Okay, so now things are starting to heat up. There's gonna be a lot of drama, a lot of romance and a lot of tears...so keep reading to find out about Sharpays plan: Will it work? Why is Troy the lucky one? What did Taylor tell Troy? Why am I asking you all of this...? **

**R&R =D**


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